A woman looks in the bathroom mirror, taking inventory. Her skin has seen thirty-something summers, perhaps more. There is a nick of indentation at either corner of her mouth, a deepening line or two beside each eye, some expressive wear, perhaps, to the forehead. She touches these places and considers her options. Maybe a series of exfoliation treatments before her next birthday, maybe some wrinkle fillers.
But these familiar indicators of the aging process don’t trouble her as much as the growing cluster of comedones and breakouts at the side of her chin or appearing on her jawline.